Winter
by purplestripedzebra22
Summary: Yuki thinks she has a normal life. She works for the allies, and is close friends with the Elric brothers. But suddenly, things take a swerving twist. Is her missing father still alive? Who is the woman trying to kill her? Did Ed and Al find something they weren't supposed to? Well lets find out as we sneek a peek into Yuki's abnormal and adventurous life!
1. The darkest day and brightest night

**Well, hope you like it, its my first story, so it might have a couple of rough edges here and there.. but i did my best to make it awesome and crap!**

**~Enjoy! :) ~**

**Disclaimer: i do not own Hetalia, FMA, or any of the characters who might be mentioned in this story.**

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**~Chapter 1~**

**The darkest day, and brightest night**

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**~Yuki's POV~**

The clouds have been here for months now, yet it's barely starting to rain. It melts everything in sight. I stand and watch from safely under my tree, as the rain slowly turns my beautiful garden to mush.

A man approaches me in the rain. For some strange reason, he is amazing to me. He is wearing a long trench coat with a hat, and a suit under his coat. "Hello, Yuki, it's been a long time," he said, with a soft expression and soothing voice. Strange. He has the same pale white skin, deep brown hair, and emerald eyes as I do, yet I can't nail who he is. Who is this guy? "Do you remember? We used to have so much fun together, you and me, my little snowflake," he said calmly. _'Little snowflake'_?why does that seem familiar to me ? Suddenly, it hit me, straight in the face. "Father!?" As soon as I said something, there was a flash of light, then, he was gone, leaving alone in the rain,with my melting garden.

I awoke with a searing pain in my left ankle. "What? Oh, oh yea…" I looked down at my feet with a sigh. Sure enough, there was a cast there. Now i remembered, I had slipped on the stairs yesterday while going to work, and fractured my ankle , was it yesterday? The day before? Oh, whatever, I can't remember now. I feel limp, and sick to my stomach. "Hey, how you feelin'?, said a familiar voice that I vaguely recognized. I turned in my bed, I hadn't even notice his presence. It was Alfred. I sighed, relieved, somehow, that it was him,. "Well,well,what a surprise, its America the hero, come to visit me." "Yeah, I have, actually.." he said "After all, it was my fault you broke your ankle." He added"No it wasn-oh yeah…" I remembered now. I was running down the stairs to tell Ed some important news from central that had to get to him immediately. I noticed Alfred walking to the foot of the stairs. He said "Sup Yuki! Hey, you know where I can find a-wha!" He was so loud, that he stopped my concentration, and I had slipped ion a small pool of water that I had wanted to avoid. (The janitor had just finished mopping) Come to think of it, I guess I'm more clumsy than I thought…

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Snow.. it's so amazing. I'm standing in piles of it. I look around. I'm in my absolute favorite place, the forest. The evergreens are lightly frosted with snow, There is life in this forest. I used to come here as a little girl, mostly in the winter, or fall, when there was snow. Even though most of the forest animals were in hibernation, I had always seen the forest as one, where I could relax from a frustrating day, or the hustle and bustle of the city. I breathe in some cold, air, and the cold sensation fills my mouth and nostrils. I turn to the side . I see a figure running towards me. it seemed like a dog. It got closer. It started to look like a wolf. I knew I had to run, food for gray wolves are usually scarce this time of year, and I didn't want to become wolf lunch. I tried to run, but my stupid legs wouldn't move, I attempted to force myself to run, but I ended up falling back sitting, facing the charging figure. I couldn't help but stare at the wolf, no, a whole wolf pack, run at me . Awesome. Just great. No other way to start my day then to become wolf meat. They're getting closer. 30 yards, 10 yards, 20 feet, so close… They were all charging at me full speed. Here we go. I close my eyes, and wait. Nothing., Shouldn't I be dead by now? I thought. I slowly open my eyes, and was forced to conceal a yelp, because there was a pack of wolves, standing before me. Most of the pack had black and gray fur, and I watched them as the organize themselves in a small circle around me, except for one wolf, however, this one was different from all the rest. It had crisp white fur, almost as white as the snow surrounding us, its ears and most of its head was black, and had some brown-black spots on its paws. A beautiful creature. It seemed strangely familiar to me. But the thing that bothered me the most, was that it had bright emerald eyes, just like my father.

**~Al's POV~**

We were all standing at the train station, where it dropped us off, in America. " Brother, how are we going to explain this to Yuki?" I asked. "Don't worry, Al, we'll come up with something to tell her, I don't want her to get caught up in this mess." he added. There was a moment of silence. All three of us were still stunned from what we had found out in central. "Ed, what, and who we saw in central, is it, really who we thought it was?" asked Winry. I tried hard to think on the bright side of all of this, while at the same time, putting it all together. What does this mean? I lost my train of thought while Ed replied to Winry's question. "From what I know, most likely. If word gets out that both of them are still alive, it will cause chaos. "I tried not to become frightened of the idea that Yuki could be put in danger because of this. "Brother, were going to help her, no matter what it takes" I said. He replied, "Yea, we will." Hmm,I thought, satisfied with what we had agreed on, I only hoped that we could keep that promise.

End of chapter 1

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**Hope you guys liked it so far! some new characters might be introduced in the next chapter, so hang in there! if you have any questions, comments, or ideas, please review my story!**


	2. The red stone

**Hey you guys! I finally edited the second chapter, I had so many freaking ideas popping into my head, I started to freak out, but no worry, I got this! Oh yea, and a couple of characters are introduced in this chapter, and there are some of Yuki's awesome memories that will be revealed.. ~well, enjoy!~**

**Warning: mild language, violence**

**Disclaimer: I do not own hetalia, or FMA, sadly**

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**~Chapter 2~ **

**the red stone**

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**~11 years ago, Italian countryside~**

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I sat out on the porch of our house, looking out at the edge of the woods, not too far from the white picket fence surrounding our property. I sat, in the handcrafted oak wood rocking chair that my grandfather had made for me, all the way from was beautiful, and I adored it, and my grandfather as well. "Yuki, my little snowflake, why don't you join your mother and I in a game of chess?" I heard my father call from the doorway, snapping me out of it. "okay, daddy," I agreed as I started to follow him inside, but stopped at the door, looking back at the woods. I was only seven years old at the time, yet I sensed something, or someone, staring straight at me, from behind the thick foliage and tree branches. I ignored the tingle in my spine, and ran to my father's side, as the three of us, my parents and I, peacefully played a game of chess, what grew to be my favorite board game, and I became a master at it, over the years of course. At seven, I didn't even know the rules, but hey, I liked the shape of the pawns, and who can blame me?

As we played, my parents seemed to be having a rather strange conversation. I listened in as my father loudly whispered into my mothers ear."Norah, do you think?that they would…" his voice trailed off. What were they talking about? I had to know. "Mommy, daddy, what are you talking about? Who is they?" I asked curiously. My mother looked at me, and her face turned immediately from serious to warm and welcoming. I had always loved that about her."hmm, nothing sweety, your father and I just have a lot on our minds right now, but there's nothing to worry about, okay?" "Nn," I hummed, as I nodded my head. My mother was amazingly beautiful. She had long flowing brown locks that reached all the way down to her lower back, fair , slightly tanned skin, and twinkling brown eyes that could melt you with their warmth. On the other hand, my father had pale skin, dark black hair, and intense emerald-green eyes. I had inherited most of my father's characteristics, along with my mother's hair. Both of my parents grew up in Italy, but my mother originated from Spain, and my father had come from Great Britain. I had gotten my nickname, 'little snowflake' because of my incredibly snow-white pale skin. I loved both my parents so dearly, and they loved me back equally.

Eventually, that day turned into another night, and all I could remember at the time was the three of us, lying out in the spring meadow, gazing up at the stars, and I had fallen asleep. Even so, I could feel the warmth of my mother and father as they carried me to my bed, and tucked me in.

I had suddenly woken with a jolt. For some reason, I was frightened. There was a banging sound, then a strange growl, coming from downstairs. My mother came to my side to wake me completely. "Yuki, you have to get out of here," she said with a rushed tone. Having almost no idea what was going on, I quickly got dressed, and followed her out the door and into the hallway. My mother told me to be completely silent, no matter what. I tried as hard as I could , feeling cold sweat forming in my palms. As we made our way through the house, I saw it, and completely froze.

The dark figure was standing in our arched doorway. It was a wolf like creature, messy black fur, gleaming blood-red eyes,it stood around six and a half to seven feet tall,and was growling angrily at us, pouring fear into our hearts.I hid behind my mother, as we both quivered with fear, but she showed strength, as she stood up to the beast. She was always so brave, willing to stand up to anything that would harm her loved ones. Scared out of my life, I looked for something to distract me. I soon noticed something red, shining in the night, around the animal's neck. It looked like a necklace, an oval-sized red stone, about the size of an egg, and the longer I stared at it, it seemed to have a strange glow... But I had to look away when I noticed that the thing was about to pounce on us. A sudden blasting sound popped my eardrums.I tuned to the source, as I saw my father, holding a shotgun in his hands, breathing heavily. The creature lied there, seemingly dead.I sighed with enormous relief. Finally, it was all over.

I could never have been more wrong.

The bullet had only slowed it down. I stood there, unable to move,in disbelief, as it rose, unharmed. It leaped, ready to pounce, but this time, my father as completely unprepared.I screamed, as my mother had pushed me aside. I stood there, watching the last of my mother, as she ripped the stone from the beast's neck. The beast was even more infuriated, without the stone around its neck. Without thinking, I snatched the necklace that had fallen on the floor, and ran to my father's side, the pendant in my hand, my eyes stinging with tears, and the frightening smell of blood in the air. Almost immediately , it came running after us, seeming to have wanting to retrieve the stone. Now, giant tears were flowing down my face, thinking of what will be of my father and I, and seeing my mother, lying on the floor, motionless, as pool of blood grew at her body.

Trying to calm me down, my father looked straight at me, after he saw what had happened to my mother, I noticed a few tears running down his face. He then gently whispered into my ear, loud enough so that I could hear, and said, "Yuki, everything will be alright, okay?" I nodded. Suddenly, everything around me, except my father and I slowed down, as he said to me,"You have to leave now, my little snowflake,"

"But Daddy, what about you-"

"Shhhh, I'll be fine, Daddy will be just fine, okay? Now you need to promise me that you will stay alive, okay? No matter what, just run, you need to get out of here, now! Go!"

I ran, attempting to avoid any attacks from the beast as it charged at me, spilling anger from its eyes. My father was trying to slow it down and distract it as much as he possibly could, but it seemed completely focused on the stone in hand. My father finally managed to pull its attention from me, by throwing rocks at it. Now mad with my father, it ran towards him. I didn't want to see the rest of that scene, so I ran out of the now demolished family room, and found myself just outside of our house, in the starry night.  
I looked around. Our home was very isolated from town, you see, as no one trusted to live near the woods, mostly because of German soldiers hiding there, or dangerous wild animals. Thinking of the best possible refuge besides grass, I sprinted towards the large forest, the safest place I knew besides my home.

As I ran, tripping over rocks and tree roots, the moon's light not reaching through the evergreen branches, I thought how I was going to survive. I had absolutely no sign of relatives in Italy, or what had happened to my parents, who were most likely dead. I tried to blink the tears mixed with blood from my eyes, and the mud and blood stains on my clothes and face. Soon enough, I was winded and on the point of blacking out. To top it off, I had tripped on a tree root, and hit my head on a rock. I forced myself to stand, losing a good amount of my blood, and seeing double vision.

My knees buckled, and I finally fell under consciousness.

**~Yuki's POV~**

White light shined brightly in my face."Yuki!Yuki! hello?!"A voice had said in the distance. I felt a shaking sensation. "Hey Yuki! Wake up! Wake up!" "Ugh.. yea, I'm up, I'm up..." I grumbled. I turned to my human alarm clock. Alfred was looming over me, staring at me with a concentrated look on his face. "You fell asleep again!" he said as he sat back in his chair. " I heard you screaming too, and mumbling stuff, like 'the stone' and 'I'll keep my promise' and stuff..." It was only until he mentioned it that I had remembered what I was dreaming about, and noticed the cold sweat all over my body. "What were you dreaming about, anyway?"he questioned. "Oh, it was, it was nothing, not anything you have to worry about,at least"I shivered at the thought of the memory, and clutched the red stone hanging around my neck. 'So, you've been really sleepy lately, and I wonder why..." he said. " Well,it's probably because I have a broken ankle, and you've loaded me with so much paperwork lately, that I've had to skip some sleep!" I exclaimed. Flinching at my anger, Alfred cautiously said,"O-Okay, so you want some tea?" I sighed. "Sure," I watched as he poured Earl Grey tea into a first class tea set.

"Where'd you get such a fancy tea set?" I asked. " Oh, this baby? Arthur let me borrow it, since you like tea and stuff, I decided to ask him for it, and he also sent some scones,as a get well gift," he said. "Hmm, 'borrowed' it, huh?" I said, doubting that he had actually borrowed it, especially from Arthur, as my hand immediately flew to the scones, untouched, beside the tea. "How could you like that stuff?!" Alfred yelped, surprised at my satisfied face as I took more and more bites out of it. Honestly, I think it's because British runs in my blood or something of the sort, because everyone else says that they're terrible, but to me, they're not half bad.

"Well, here's your tea," he said while cautiously bringing it over to me."Thanks,"I said. I thought of my nightmare . I shortly gasped, just the thought of it... I tried to ignore the thought as I took small sips of my tea. Earl Grey tea is my absolute favorite tea, ever since i was little. Man, I really miss how it tasted,when my mom used to make it. Almost nothing compared to it. Even so, this cup of tea was pretty good.

I liked this moment. Sipping tea, calmly and quietly, and eating scones. I wish it could last forever. I looked out the window. It was an amazing view. All the trees that were a bright green in the summer and spring had turned to intense colors like a fiery red, stunning orange, and a mix of burgundy and brown in other trees. I had always liked the place where i worked, with the allies. I don't know why, but Alfred's mansion had always given off a kind manner to me.

Alfred purposely dropped a three-pound book on the floor to snap me out of la-la land. He shook his head in disappointment, "Why does your boyfriend never seem to give you the right gifts?I could say that he totally would've done much better that this..." he said as he held up my red stone necklace in the air.

MY NECKLACE!

"Hey! You give that back right now, that's mine!"That bastard, I was too busy daydreaming, that I didn't even notice him robbing me, I guess that proves I'm a huge airhead...He just stood there, laughing as he triumphantly held it in the air like a first place prize. "Hahaha, well, it looks like the hero did it again,"He smirked.

"Oh, well then, I guess there's no need to talk about it," I tried as hard as I could not to start cracking up as he realized that I had snatched it from him, as he was gloating about his new bounty. "What?! Impossible!" he said with some sight disbelief in his voice, if my ears don't deceive me. But then, he relaxed, as he said," well then, I suppose you're not such a bad thief after all," "Well, obviously," I said. Well that was a dumb thing to say,since I had been an expert at thieving since I was ten."And i don't have a boyfriend, for your information,"I added with slight annoyance in my voice. "Yea, sure," He replied, obviously not believing me. "What? It's the truth! I don't have a boyfriend! Besides, they're always a big waste of time..."i grumbled.

"Well then, it's been fun, but I gotta go, chief. There is a very important matter I must discuss with the Elrics.." he said, as he began to gather his coat and hat. "They said they would come to check up on you later, oh, and there are some, other visitors waiting to come in," he said with a smirk. He left out the door, without another word. A while after he left, I couldn't help but wonder what he meant by 'other' visitors.. Whatever, I just hope it's not-

"Hey, Yuki!" said an all too familiar voice as Arthur Kirkland walked through my bedroom door, without even knocking.. How rude. But my mood immediately changed when I saw the chess board in his hands. "I see your awake, now, how are you feeling?" He asked kindly. " I'm much better that before, at least,"I replied with a soft smile on my lips."That's good,would you like to join me?" he asked, as he pointed out the rather large rectangular board game."I'll take you on any day" I said, expecting said answer, "Is that a challenge?"

So far, out of the three games we've played, I had won two of them. I wasn't doing too bad, Arthur was a little wiser that I was, but he had nearly no chance against me, if it wasn't for that brain of his. I'm not saying I'm better than him, it's just that I do stand taller that him, in experience.

"Ha! Check mate, my friend!" I said in triumph, as he looked at me in disbelief. "Well, you just got lucky, again." he grumbled. "Yea, I guess so, I'm just too good at getting lucky al the time, aren't I?" I said, mocking him with his own words. Apparently, he didn't get the joke, and he just gave me a blank stare. We were both sitting there, at the sitting area, near the fireplace. I faintly heard something. It was like steps, marching up the stairs, and fast. "Do you hear that?" I asked Arthur, just to make sure I wasn't going crazy, or anything. He took a moment to concentrate."Yuki,I can't hear anything...what are you talking about?" "It's getting louder," I said, as I could now hear the footsteps, loud and clear, that I knew exactly who it was, and held my breath.

"Surprise!" yelled Edward as he, Alphonse, and Winry suddenly burst through the door, almost giving Arthur a heart-attack, but I merely looked up from the game, as I greeted the three of them."Oh, hey you guys. What are you doing here?"I asked, trying to keep my anger contained.

"Well, we were about to board the train to central, and Winry forgot her toolbox, so we had to go back, and while we were here, we heard that you went all crazy, and you broke your ankle, so now,we've come to visit you." I focused on his facial expression, and noticed something." Well first, I did not go all crazy like you said, and second,"I directed this to Winry,"Winry, do you really need your toolbox 'that' badly?"I asked, suspiciously."Well, yea. If these two wouldn't keep getting themselves into such a mess, I wouldn't need it, but unfortunately,they can't help it..."she answered, Ed and Al shaking from fear of her deadly stare.

This proved my point.

**~Al's POV~**

"Hmph," Yuki smiled,seeming victorious in something. "What? What's the matter?"asked Arthur, who had somehow recovered from the state of shock that he was in because of our surprise visit. "Yes, I'm pretty sure I'm right, and it wouldn't be possible for me to be wrong either..." Yuki was thinking out loud now.

I looked at my brother, who had a nervous look on his face. I gasped. Could it be? Is it even possible? No.. No..

"Hmph. They're lying." She stated. All three of us were in shock. "What- but..." Ed stammered. "Yes, I figured it out, after all, it was a pretty bad lie," Yuki smirked. "Well then, how can you prove it?" Asked Ed, testing her, if she really knew that we were lying, or if she was just pulling our leg. She replied confidently," Well, I know you like the back of my hand, and you, Ed, couldn't look at me while you were talking to me, Al didn't say a word, and he was just facing the floor. And Winry had a strange worried look on her face, as if she had committed crime or something," As scared as I was to admit it,she was right. she saw right trough the lie that Alfred had told us to say.

She continued, as everyone else in the room was frozen,"So, what kind of secret were you hiding that I wouldn't want to hear about?"

This was it. We obviously had to tell her, or she would force it out of us, and both Ed and I knew that wasn't a fun path to choose... We had to say something. Something that could get her off our backs for now and give us enough time to go and tell Alfred what had happened. "Brother..." I said to him as we looked at each other, and both understood what we had to do. Yuki was still sitting there, waiting for an answer. Ed let Winry know what we were going to do, and soon, we all agreed that it was the best thing to do.

All three of us jolted out of the room, and ran as fast as we could, before she could catch up to us. Even with a broken ankle, we knew Yuki can be capable of almost anything."RUUUN!" yelled Ed, as we were scared that she and Arthur would be right behind us at any second.

"HEY! COME BACK! We heard Yuki yell,still in the room, unprepared for what we had just pulled off.

"Are we crazy?!" said Winry, who was starting to panic already. "Brother, where exactly are we going?" I asked, as we made our way through maze-like halls and rooms of the giant mansion. "I don't know! Let's find Alfred, I bet he'll know what to do!"he replied. Aww man, were dead...

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**So yea, this chapter was a bit longer than the last one, I'm still pissed that I made it so short, but that's no biggie, the plot will soon be introduced in no time! so PLEASE REVIEW! that's the only way you can encourage me to write the next chapter!**


	3. Tomatoes, wolves, and secret missions

**Finally! Chapter three is here! I'm so relieved now, and i know that i kinda took a while to post this chapter, but i hope everyone keeps reading! Pretty please comment and review as much as possible, okay! ~enjoy!~**

**Warning: extreme awesomeness (and some violence)**

**Disclaimer: i don't own Hetalia or FMA... only if i were filthy rich**

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**~Chapter 3~  
Tomatoes, wolves, and secret missions**

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**~Alicia's POV~**

I sat on the bricks of the Italian church tower, looking down at the growing crowd. I sighed. "I don't see how we are going to catch our target here," I mumbled to myself. We had a mission to complete, but it wasn't going too well. I just feel like this is a waste of my time…

I looked out at the vast forest to my left. It was amazing. The tall sequoia trees and evergreens stood tall and proud, in the bitter fall cold. I admired it for its parent-like protection. I lay back, staring up at the dark sky, littered with gray clouds, threatening to rain on us at any moment. It was around the end of September, and the rainy season was starting already.

I yawned lazily as I sat back up. 'I must be working too late into the night, because I only got two hours of sleep last night…'I thought to myself. I checked my watch. It was only nine o clock in the morning. "Hmm, I guess it's pretty early in the day…" I said to myself as I twirled my brown locks in between my fingers. It was a very bad habit of mine, but I guess I didn't really care.

I looked up at the frowning sky once more, and decided that I didn't want to get soaked in the rain today, so I stood and made my way down the tower. Not by stairs, though. I don't like to take the stairs, so I carefully made my way down the various bricks and shapes of the bell tower. Once I finally made it to the ground, I got some stares from a few people. I wouldn't blame them though, seeing me jump down from the side of a building, who wouldn't?

I didn't really pay much attention to them, as I dusted myself off. I really wasn't that odd-looking, actually. At least I hoped I wasn't. I was wearing a forest-green military suit, which fit me rather loosely, and my favorite combat boots. My dark brown hair was let down in large curls, and stretched to my mid-back. I was wearing my most valuable treasures; my silver dagger, hanging at my waist, and around my neck, bound to the platinum chain, was a large wolf fang.

I guess it wasn't much, but I'm not the kind of person to carry too many things around with me. When they sent me off to live with; well, I guess I could call them my second family. Apparently, when they had their second child, I couldn't be around the newborn, I was too much to handle. I remembered I used to have something that meant the world to me, the fiery red necklace that used to hang around my neck, and I had lost it. I can't remember how, but I have strange memories about it. My past that frightened me and sent shivers down my spine. I turned pale as I thought about it more deeply.

I was brought back to my senses when I felt a huge tomato made contact with the side of my head, and knocked me to the ground.

"Ow!" I grumbled as I sat up from the floor, looking for the culprit who had now left the word 'tomato' ringing in my head.

Then I found him.

Well, both of them, actually. I felt my patience slowly slipping away as Antonio and Lovino approached me.

Apparently it was national tomato-throwing day, because Antonio was carrying a whole crate full of tomatoes, and was flinging them at random people, with a smile on his face. How creepy is that? You could see red stains against his crisp-white button-up shirt, obviously from previous tomato hits. Lovino was trying to avoid as many as he possibly could, but there was still a few stains on his face and sky blue shirt.

"Why you little-" before I could finish my growling, Antonio gave me the 'I wanna go hug you after I attacked you with a tomato' look, as he dropped the tomato crate, and came running towards me. His chest soon muffled my cursing, as he attacked me with a huge bear hug, and he was crushing my body. " Hey, Alicia! How are you doing?' I felt a hand move to my head, as he wiped the mushy tomato from my hair. I heard him say something else, but I could vaguely hear him now, as he was cutting off my breathing,and I was about to pass out. He loosened the hug a little, and as my breathing regulated, I noticed Antonio's hand resting on my butt. What the hell?! How did that get there?! I pushed myself away from him, as he was frowning. "What?" I asked.

"Well, it's just that…" he stammered over his words. "What is it?" I was curious. "Well… well, your butt is so small, and it's not pleasurable at all!" he suddenly bursted out, his expression was sad, and even slightly teary. "There's nothing there!" I sighed. He is such a drama queen…he is always so passionate about everything, but it's obvious, I mean, he is a Spaniard.

I quickly snapped myself out of this admiring state for him, and immediately objected." My butt is not that small! And it's not my fault I wasn't born with it! She was!" I exclaimed. We all froze, stunned from my volume for a second. I really felt like I had said something that I really shouldn't have…

"Alicia, what do you mean by 'she was born with it?" Lovino asked, clearly interested in the subject. My face was flushed from all its color, as he continued. " Is there something you haven't told us, Alicia?" I tried to concoct some sort of lie, but none came to mind. Damn, I messed up. They were both staring at me intently, expecting an answer. I couldn't possibly imagine telling them what I meant. It would ruin everything. I'm already being eaten alive of guilt from all that has been going on lately. " Well, uh, um…" I stammered, trying to stall. After a very long, awkward moment of silence, I had to change the subject. "So, Antonio, why are you here in the first place?"

It seemed to distract them enough. Lovino just ignored it afterward, and scooted away a few yards from Antonio and I didn't just ask him this question to change the subject, I was also curious, since he was supposed to be in his host country, Spain. A troublesome smile formed on his face, as he replied with a smirk. "Hmm, I'm glad you asked!" he said excitedly. "I was beginning to miss Lovino, and I knew that the short-tempered maid would love to see me again, so… here I am!" I glanced at Lovino, who was trying to listen into our conversation, and then argued, " I'm not your stupid maid!" I had to let out a small giggle, as he continued," and you know the real reason you're here…" Now this got me interested.

"What? What's the real reason your here?" I asked, staring at Antonio, with my huge curious eyes. "Were having a world conference, and its being held here in Italy," he said.  
I really wasn't that surprised. "Oh, okay. So it's just another meeting where you countries are just going to talk about your boring history, and lame battle plans, and eat scones all day…"

" Hey! We do not eat scones!" Antonio and Lovino both said in unison. " Jeez, calm down, I was just messing with you," I said, smiling. " Yes, but it's not just any conference," Antonio said, trying to pull me in with the suspense.

I just gave him a blank stare in return. "Oh, you mean you're going to add a book club this time?" I smirked, pretending to act amazed. "What?! There is no way in hell that I would go to one of those things! They're stupid and boring!" yelled Lovino, obviously pissed now. Antonio gave me a stupid look. "No, it's not that. We will all be assigned a top-secret mission, in which we can't tell anyone!" He said triumphantly. Confused, I asked him, "But didn't you just tell me now?"

Lovino also noticed this, and started yelling even more.I could hear him in the background yelling out things like: "You stupid bastard! We weren't supposed to tell anyone! Now look what you've done! I'm going to kill you!

Antonio grew a look of guilt on his face, and all he could manage to mutter was a tiny "Ooops"

I sighed heavily, but with a smile on my face. "A secret mission, huh?" I gave them an extremely serious look, as they both stopped in what they were doing. "I want in!"

**~Ed's POV~**

Soon enough, with the fact that Winry and I were winded and sweaty enough, I knew that it was time to stop running. I looked up, and Al was about thirty feet ahead of us. "Wait! Al! Hold on!" I called out to him.

He turned, and waved. "Oh, sorry brother," He apologized as he ran back towards us.

"Winry" I panted,"Winry and I need a little rest," I managed to mutter. I couldn't believe that we were still running away from Yuki, I hadn't even recognized where we stopped. I turned, and Winry had slipped away. Damn her! Always leaving me by myself! Well, with Al, anyway. "Hey Al, do you know where Winry went- Huh?" I was talking to emptiness, because he was gone too."Al! Where did you go! Alphonse! Alphonse!" I called out to him, panicking of what could have happened to him. How is this even possible? How could I lose a girl and a suit of armor that big?

"Brother, over here!" I heard his voice echo from beyond my view. I sprinted towards the sound of his voice, to find him standing, waving to me. I relaxed as I saw Al and Winry, on the grassy hill, looking at the clouds. "Isn't the view amazing?" he asked. Until then, I hadn't noticed the scenery. I thought we were in some sort of huge park, with a vast landscape. There were small rolling green hills, with the occasional tree, and further ahead, was a large forest. "Wow. What is this place?" I asked, enchanted by the view.

Winry answered my question. " If I remember, we should about half a mile from Mr. Jones' house, this is part of his property…" What! We're still in that idiot's property!" I exclaimed in rage, knowing that the crack-head is probably laughing his ass off now… I kept yelling out words that probably aren't very proper to say, but as soon as I felt Winry's hand smack my face, it brought me back to reality.

"What do you think you're saying!? After all Mr. Jones helped us with, you decide to just insult him like that!" she yelled. I was slightly surprised by her anger, but then yelled back; "Well it's not like he's listening to us right now-" We were all astonished by what happened next. Al finally broke us up and yelled out, "You guys!" We both turned to see Al pointing to where we had arrived in the park. Winry and I slowly turned to where Al was pointing, and we saw Alfred looking at us from under a large oak tree, about ten yards away from us.

I could fell the heat rising to my face, as I knew he had obviously been watching us. Winry was the first to speak. "Mr. Jones, uh, what are you doing here?" She had a nervous tone in her voice. Alfred relaxed a bit as he took a few steps towards us. "I hope I wasn't interrupting anything," he said, looking at Winry and I.  
I blushed as I noticed how close she was to me, and realized what he was saying. Winry was blushing as well. "Uh, well…" I stammered. We both stepped away from each other immediately. "Well I came looking for you after Yuki told me what had happened..." he said. "Ahh!" We all jumped in fear to the sound of her name. "Wow, calm down," he said. "Its okay, I have a plan, if she has figured out that we lied to her, she's not going to stop until she knows what's up…" he said.

He suddenly stopped talking, as something caught his eye, and he was looking out into the dense forest. "What is it?" Winry asked. We were all looking out at the forest now, scanning for whatever Alfred was staring at. Then, there it was. There were two huge, gray eyes, staring at us from behind the trees. "Ed," Al said. "Wh-what is that?"

"I don't know…" Could it be a chimera? No, it seems different… Alfred stepped in front of us. " We should go back to the house, trust me, you wouldn't want to pick a fight with one of these things," he looked at me. "Lets go."

Al and I were looking back at the trees as we were walking back to Alfred's house. We were following the stone path that led down the hill, and we heard a terrifying low growl. It was loud and fierce, and sounded like an angry animal. We all turned to see a huge creature coming out of its hiding place from behind the trees. It looked like a huge wolf, four or five times bigger than a normal-sized wolf. It had its big gray eyes, and bared teeth that looked like they could smash through bricks without any effort at all. Winry let out a gasp. Alfred stepped in front of her and said, "Get back! Winry, go to the house and get some help!"

I watched her speed down the hill, as the three of us got ready to fight the wolf. Alfred was the first to approach it, and with his strength he lifted it into the air, and flung it away, and it landed in a pile of green grass. Al and I both ran to Alfred, as we were left to fight the thing.

**~Al's POV~**

There we were, Ed, Alfred and I, standing before the huge wolf creature, or whatever it was, ready to fight. Its big gray eyes glared down at me with anger, and for a strange reason, I recognized those eyes, they suddenly seemed familiar to me. I noticed Al and Alfred yelling at me, telling me to get out of the way. I looked around, and saw the wolf running at me. I jumped out of its way right in the nick of time, before it crashed into the huge sequoia tree behind me, causing hundreds of leaves and branches to fall to the ground.

It didn't seem to do any effect towards it at all. I ran to Ed and Alfred's side. "That crash didn't seem to hurt it!" I exclaimed. "Well then, were going to have to fight it until it is!" said Alfred. Ed and I both nodded in agreement, as he transmuted his arm into a small-sword. Ed was the first one to act, and ran to the wolf, which was already charging at us, and began to hit it with his sword and transmutation elements. I followed his example and helped him with as many transmutation techniques I knew of. Soon the three of us were lashing out at the six-foot tall creature, and trying to dodge all of its lashing claws.

It seemed to be taking turns with its attention on us, one at a time. By the time its attention was on me, I was barely able to avoid its attacks. I was trying to focus on it, but I was distracted by something standing on one of the many rolling hills, or it was just my imagination. That was my mistake. When I looked twice, there was obviously an opening, where the wolf's claws could tear me to shreds. I turned to back up, almost too late when I received a few scratches to my armor. I was about to back up some more, but I wasn't able to, because of a steep cliff, behind me. I was cornered. I heard Ed yelling, "Al!" I glanced at him, his face was sweaty, and his chest was moving up and down drastically because of his heavy breathing.

Coming to my rescue, Alfred sprinted in the general direction of the wolf, and tackled it to the ground, giving me time to escape the cornered area that I was in. Alfred stood up, he was panting as well. This was not good, Ed and Alfred were already getting tired, and the beast didn't seem fatigued at all.

I could do nothing but watch as said animal charged at Ed and smacked him with its claws and pinned him to the ground.

**~Ed's POV~**

I felt helpless under the weight of the giant wolf's paw, its gray eyes piercing my skin, as well as its claws. I looked up at it, seeing double; I heard Al and Alfred calling out to me. I felt more pressure coming from its paw, and I felt a couple of ribs crack under it. I was seeing flashes of black and white everywhere, my breathing was slow and heavy, and was feeling the entire right side of my face swell up. I thought, 'this is probably on of the worst situations I've been in…' Being crushed by an overgrown wolf pup—how amusing.

Apparently, I wasn't going to be crushed just yet. As soon as I saw the animal's ears go up, it started to look around; I knew it had heard something. I tried to listen for what it was being distracted by, but I couldn't hear anything. But then, there was something. It was very vague, but it was definitely there. It grew louder and turned into a whistle, unlike any other whistle I have heard. It was ghostly, and it was creeping me out the louder it got. The animal whined, looking back and forth from the woods, where the whistle came from, and Al, Alfred and I, as if deciding to follow the sound or to finish killing us. We heard the whistle again, and it looked down at me as it set me free from its claws, and growled at us. Then it turned around and ran towards the forest, and as soon as it appeared, it was gone.

**~Yuki's POV~**

Arthur and I sat in the bedroom beside the roaring fire. I looked out the window. The sun was beginning to make its way behind the green mountains, and the full moon slowly made its appearance in the starless sky. I began to think back to the events that have happened recently, trying to figure out Ed and Al's motive for lying to me like they did. I tried not to think it over too much, as I shifted uneasily in my seat and sipped my tea, attempting to look as calm as possible.

It was soon clear that Arthur saw right through my act. "Are you okay, Yuki?" he asked with a worried look on his face. "You seem…tense."

"Oh, I'm fine, I was just thinking of all the paperwork that I have to complete," I chuckled nervously. I shuddered as the lie reminded me that I really do have loads of work to finish. 'Why must Alfred be so cruel?' I thought to myself, frowning into my cup of tea.

"Well, you shouldn't stress yourself too much with that broken ankle," said Arthur. I lifted my head to find him rising from his seat, and gathering his things. "But for now, it seems I must be on my way, it's getting rather late,"

"But, its only—" I checked my watch. "Oh, nine forty-five…" I realized. I glanced at him as he slowly picked up the red-and white chess pieces, one by one. I stood as well, ready to say my good-byes to Arthur, when he said, "Yuki, has Alfred told you what you'll be doing tomorrow and the day after?"

I was puzzled by his question. "N-no, I don't recall him mentioning anything about it, why do you ask?'

Arthur hesitated to speak for a moment, as if not knowing whether he was allowed to tell me or not. Then he sighed heavily." Nothing, its just that there's going to be a world conference meeting tomorrow, and Alfred should be there."

"Oh, well Alfred usually goes to those meetings…"

"Yes, I know. However, we are changing things up a bit this time."

"Well, what changes will you be making?"

He spoke to me as he was walking out the door. "I've said too much already, but I'm sure you'll find out what's going on soon enough" He stopped at the door. "Yuki, just make sure you'll promise me one thing," I stared at him intently. "Stay alive, okay?"

I stood there, stunned. I stared at the spot where he was previously standing, as he walked down the stairs and around the corners of the big house, until I couldn't hear his heavy footsteps anymore.

After what I would guess two minutes, my brain finally caught up with most of the events that have taken place in my life for the past three days. It was nearing ten o'clock now, not my usual late, but my eyelids felt like five-pound weights. I hopped over to my crutches on one foot, and crutched over to my bed. I slipped under the covers, and dozed off into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

**Well, that's chapter 3 for you! The usual, people jumping off buildings, getting ribs cracked, and trying to desperately solve a mystery with a fracture...your everyday life, right? And if you gits care for me at all, just review! **

**Next chapter: there will be some conflicts, people attempting to kill each other, and some humorous arguments that just might make you feel awkward about some things...**

**REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!**


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